Ore-furnace.



L. B. SKINNER.

ORE FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.25. 1915.

1,164,182, Patented Dec.14,1915.

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ORE-FURNACE.

monies.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 141,193115.

Original application filed October 21, 1914, Serial No. 867,461. Divided and this application filed March 25, 1915. Serial No. 16,941.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS B. SKINNER, citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to furnaces for roasting ores and has for its object to provide improved means for regulating and controlling the degree of heat in the various parts of the furnace.

The invention is designed primarily to be used in an ore roasting furnace of the general type comprising a vertical cylindrical casing provided with a plurality of superimposed hearths andhavinga central shaft with radial arms extending therethrough and rotating about its central axis.

The subject matter of the present invention pertains particularly to means for reducing or regulating the high temperature usual in the intermediate or middle hearths of the furnace and is a divisional application of my co-pending application, Serial Number 867,461. Various means have been devised and applied to furnaces of this general type for regulating the temperature throughout difierent parts of the furnace. All of these, however, are dependent upon air circulating either within the central shaft and rabble arms or through the series of chambers between the hearths.

, This invention however, contemplates means whereby the radiation of heat through the walls of the furnace can be controlled by interposing in suitably formed openings or recesses in the cylindrical casing metal plates of steel iron or similarly good conducting'material. These plates are adapted to be either cooled by natural circulation or may be jacked while air or water circulates through them,

The invention consists of the novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of an ore roasting furnace, of a diagrammatic nature, with the present invention embodied therein. Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of the invention. Fig. 3 is a modified form.

Referring to the drawings, the furnace is shown in Fig. 1 consisting of a cylindrical casing 1 built of fire brick or other suitable material and supported upon vertically extending columns 2 which rest upon supporting bases B of masonry or concrete. A. series of substantially horizontal floors or shelves 3 and 4, constructed of fire clay or tile, are formed within the casing, being supported from the inner circumference of the furnace casing and provided with a series of central and peripheral openings 5 and 8 respectively. Supported centrally within the furnace is the vertical hollow shaft (3 provided with rabble arms 9 extending so as to move, when the shaft is r0- tated, between the hearths or shelves 3 and 4. Suitable means is provided at the top of the furnace for feeding ore onto the uppermost hearth and the furnace is so designed that as the shaft 6 and its rabble arms 5) revolve the ore will be fed gradually down through the various hearths by way of the openings 5 and 8 above referred to. As shown in the drawing the three lower hearths are hollow or muffled hearths. Provision is made for the regulation of the air circulating through the furnace and means is also provided for forcing cooling air through the hollow central shaft 1 and its arm 9, but as this is the subject matter of another application, it need not be described here in detail.

At suitable points in the outer wall of the furnace openings are provided which may be, as shown in the drawing, of rectangular form. These openings 10 are provided with linings 11 of metal. Plates 12 of steel, iron or other. good conducting material are provided 'of a size adapted to fit within the openings 10. Hinged covers 13 are also provided on the outer wall of the furnace casing and are adapted to be opened and closed by means of handles 14 secured thereon. Thus it will be seen that even access to the plates 12 may be had from the exterior of the furnace. Should the heat generated within the furnace not be sufiiciently excessive to demand the use of these improved radiating plates they can readily be removed from the openings 10 and the same may be filled with fire brick or clay or the outside doors 13 may be closed. On the other hand, if the normal radiating function of the metal plates in itself is not sufficient to reduce the excessive heat they may be provided as shown in Fig. 8 as hollow members adapted to be connected by inlet and outlet pipes 13 and lirespectively through which air or water can bepassed to effect a more rapid cooling of the same. It will be understood that the top and bottom hearths would not require the use of such cooling means as they receive the fresh supply of cold ore and cold air respectively but by having'these openings provided at intervals around the casing opposite some of the intermediate compartments or hearths' it is possible to allow the radiation of heat from them into the atmosphere or into the fluid circulating in the jacketedmembers, (Fig. 3) and thus obtain the precise temperature best suited for conducting the roast.

-I claim as my invention:

1. An ore roastingfurnace comprising a cylindrical cas'ing,-a rotatable hollow shaft mounted therein, a series of ore floors surrounding said shaft, a plurality of openings 1 formed in said casing at intervals around its circumference, and heat conducting means adapted to be inserted in or removed from said openings, substantially as'described.

2. An ore roasting furnace comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatable hollow shaft mounted therein, a series of ore floors surroundingsaid shaft, a plurality of openings formed in said casing at intervals around its circumference, and at levels opposite certain of said floors, and heat conducting ,rnea-ns adapted to be removably inserted within said openings, substantially as described.

3. An ore roasting furnace comprising a' cylindrical casing, a rotatable hollow shaft mounted therein, a series of ore floors surrounding said shaft, a plurality of openings .or blocks of heat conducting material adapted to be inserted in or removed from said openings, and means for artificially cooling said plates or blocks.

5. An ore roasting furnace comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatable hollow shaft mounted therein, a series of'ore floors surrounding said s'haft, a plurality of openings formed in said casing at intervals around its circumference, and between said floors, plates or blocks of heat conducting material adapted to be inserted in or removed from said openings, said plates or blocks being provided with jackets adapted to have cool-- in medium passed therethrough, substantia ly as described. 7

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS BAILEY SKINNER. Witnesses:

F, R. AsHLEY, R. B. HOOKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eaten Washington, I). C. 

